Taku Iwasa
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| Taku Iwasa | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Taku Iwasa Takamichi Iwasa Michael Iwasa |
| Billed height | 177 cm (5 ft 10 in) |
| Billed weight | 82 kg (206 lbs) |
| Born | November 15, 1977 Sendai-shi, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan |
| Trained by | Ultimo Dragon |
| Debut | September 2, 2000 |
Taku Iwasa is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently wrestles for Dragon Gate.
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Early
Iwasa graduated as part of the Toryumon T2P class. He initially portrayed Takamichi Iwasa, a Satanic character. Injuries derailed his career, and he soon ended up as a jobber to the stars. He was briefly scouted by the famous Crazy Max stable, and they gave him a ten match trial series. CMax was never truly interested in Iwasa, though, and he lost all 10 matches.
Following this, he joined forces with Raimu Mishima, who had been exiled from M2K for losing too many matches and general weakness. They petitioned to form their own unit, but were unable to do so. They then left for America to undergo "Warrior Training".
[edit] The Florida Brothers
Upon returning to Toryumon, Iwasa and Mishima proclaimed themselves to be Americans. They changed their first names to Michael and Daniel respectively.
The Florida Brothers were a comedy team. Their routine involved spoofing American southern style wrestling, and winning matches by DQ. Iwasa carried a folding chair painted in a stars and stripes pattern to the ring, and the Floridas would throw the chair to their opponents, then fake having been hit with it. The referee would then DQ their opponents, and the Floridas would leap to their feet and put their hands over their hearts as The USA Nation Anthem played. Later, they would add Takayuki Yagi to their shtick. Yagi portrayed a partial referee, dressing in an American Flag motif shirt and wearing oversized sunglasses that he required to see.
Kensuke Sasaki joined the Floridas as a part time member after losing to them via DQ, and called himself Kenskee whenever he teamed with them.
The Florida Brothers gimmick had run its course in 2006, and Iwasa and Mishima put the gimmick on the line in a match against Stalker Ichikawa. Ichikawa won the match. Iwasa and Mishima went their separate ways. Mishima would leave the company very shortly after, while Iwasa joined the cram school stable Tozawa-Juku.
[edit] Tozawa-Juku
Akira Tozawa had earlier announced his intention to open a cram school based stable, for wrestlers to get polish. Taku Iwasa was one of his first recruits.
The character change greatly improved Iwasa's rank within Dragon Gate. Instead of returning to the submission style he used as Takamichi Iwasa, he became a power wrestler. Later, when Keni'chiro Arai joined Tozawa-Juku, he and Iwasa began teaming regularly. The two managed to win the Open the Twin Gate Titles, and have also performed in NOAH.
[edit] Wrestling Facts
- Trademark Moves
- Tozawa-juku Hiden: Gouwan: Axe Bomber style lariat. It has many variations that vary depending on the situation.
- Tozawa-juku Saishuu Ougi: Chouwan: Evolved version of the Gouwan, which will leave Iwasas' arm unusable for 3 days after it is used. This is reserved for super important big matches, where tension is at it's highest.
- Tozawa-juku Hiden: Jigoku no Ichoume: Knee strike to the body
- Tozawa-juku Hiden: Jigoku no Nichoume: Knee strike after spinning the victim. If used on a victim with an empty stomach, it is particularly effective.
- Tozawa-juku Hiden: Kuroneko: Backslide with leg hook.
- Tozawa-juku Hiden: Jigokuguruma: Arm clutch implant DDT, sometimes with a rotation.
- Tozawa-juku Hiden: Ganjigarame Choufukuzatsu Facelock: Arm and neck llave
- Tozawa-juku Hiden: Sekizuisonshou: A rather painful submission. Iwasa starts with a modified facelock, but transition to a leg submission where he basically grabs the victims' leg and pulls it backwards towards their head.
- Tozawa-juku Saishuu Ougi: Kegon: A modified fisherman buster of sort, where the victims leg is hooked around Iwasas' neck, and dropped.
- Tozawa-juku Saishuu Ougi So no ni : Noshigami: Gory Special into facebuster drop. There is now a higher angle version called Noshigami Tsubasa
- Tozawa-juku Saishuu Ougi So no San: Maikeru O Shichi: A modified version of the Frolida era Mi~Chael. The original was a piledriver with the victims legs hooked in a figure four position. The new name is a clever wordplay, as it translates to Maikeru 0 7, or Michael 07.
- Tozawa-juku Saishuu Ougi: Kaminari: The ultimate technique, Iwasa drops lightning on his opponent.
- Tozawa-juku Hiden: Gouwan: Axe Bomber style lariat. It has many variations that vary depending on the situation.
